Chapter 453: Same Origin, Different Paths
The 29th round of the Premier League is over, and the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals will soon be ushered in.
At Neil Stadium, Millwall take on Real Madrid.
In the first leg of the contest at the Bernabeu Stadium, Millwall defeated Real Madrid 2-1, Millwall had a goal advantage and two away goals.
In the last meeting, Millwall took the trick.
Zhang Yang used Braniff as a 'bait' and used Simpson as a hole card, Real Madrid were not prepared at all, and they went into the trap step by step to get Millwall's first goal.
In the second leg, Real Madrid will definitely be more cautious.
They will study Millwall carefully, analyze each player in depth, and treat the game more calmly, and it will be very difficult to play 'tricks'.
Millwall had to tackle it head-on.
This is a huge test for Millwall, the Spanish team is different from the English team, such as Real Madrid, the world's top team, the ability of individual players is still aside, their overall technical is very strong, Capello's coaching style is more defensive, but it cannot hide the technical strength of Real Madrid.
Millwall is much worse than that, but as a traditional English team, Millwall also has the advantage of being 'English', and will be tougher in terms of style of play and scrambling.
It's going to be a tight game.
Zhang Yang is confident in the game, Real Madrid is a very strong opponent, but even if it is not for Millwall, he should lead the team to defeat Real Madrid and let the opponent continue to stop in the round of 16.
This is not hostility towards Real Madrid, but to continue to respect history.
In the memory of my previous life, Real Madrid's Champions League journey is very interesting, I remember that there is a limerick that says, "The Champions League has four finals, and the top three Xie Wuhuang." My emperor is 250 million, and the Champions League is 16 lang".
From the 2004-2005 season to the 2010-2011 season, Real Madrid stopped in the last 16 of the Champions League for six consecutive years.
The original history of the Champions League is like this, and it will also become a 'good story' in the history of Real Madrid, Zhang Yang feels that Real Madrid has stopped in the round of 16 twice in a row, and they should continue to maintain their record, otherwise such a good story is gone, isn't it a pity?
From a historical point of view, it is also necessary to lead Millwall to beat Real Madrid.
Real Madrid certainly don't know this information, and even if someone tells them that they will be out of the Champions League round of 16 for a long time in the next few seasons, they will definitely think it's a joke.
They are a powerful Real Madrid, how can they be stopped in the round of 16 for a long time?
Now against Millwall, they all feel they can advance, Millwall played a good score in the first round, but it was only a 'trick' to win, their young Chinese manager, deceived them with a 'Braniff', and it was Simpsons and Livermore who scored the goal.
Whenever I think of the scene of the last leg, Real Madrid's stars feel heartache and feel insulted at the level of IQ.
Real Madrid are not willing to let go and are aiming to win the Champions League.
After the last leg of the competition, they paid more attention to Millwall, and also held a special tactical meeting to let each player get to know Millwall carefully, which shows that Real Madrid attaches great importance to the game.
In Real Madrid's view, this Millwall team is good, and the 'double core' style of play shocked the whole of England, and even many media in Europe reported Millwall's special tactics.
This particular tactic is a testament to the coaching ability of their young managers.
So what?
No matter how special and powerful the tactics are, they are just tactics, and it is the players who play on the field, and the overall level of Real Madrid is a notch higher than Millwall, even if ordinary tactics are used, Millwall can not be compared.
They also made a lot of preparations for this trip to Neil Stadium.
Head coach Fabio Capello asked the wings to play more aggressively, and also emphasized that Carlos should be inserted in the assist, in order to improve the scoring ability, and must complete two goals in 90 minutes.
This is the most basic.
The score of the first leg was 1-2, with Millwall scoring two away goals, and Real Madrid's one-goal win over Millwall will not be a final victory, so they will have to score at least two.
"We have to play frontally, on both wings and in the middle, we have to be tougher! The midfield is very important, their 'dual-core' style of play, relying on the cooperation of the middle, try to occupy the midfield, and do not let them have enough space to complete the cooperation! As long as we persist in fighting like this, victory will definitely belong to us! ”
Capello said seriously.
Real Madrid are not short of fighting spirit, the loss to Millwall in the first leg has already made them feel humiliated, and the second leg does not need to mobilize morale at all, every player will know what to do.
Capello always believes that as long as they play according to the established tactics, Real Madrid will definitely win in the end.
In the last game, he was just not well prepared, and he paid special attention to the opponent's Braniv.
They were well prepared for this game, the players would know how to play the game, and they wouldn't be Millwall at all.
————
In the press conference before the game, it was interesting that Zhang Yang brought up Braniv again.
'I think Braniff will be a key player.
"Braniff was very good in the last round, and this one will be no exception!"
"I'm sure Braniff will show Real Madrid what the best superstars in the world are!"
“……”
The media reporters were dumbfounded.
The Spanish reporters felt that they had been greatly insulted, and it was an insult to their IQ, and the young people on the stage did not seem to be praising Braniv, but saying to Real Madrid and the Spanish media, "Yes, your IQ is only ten points, so believe me, one plus one equals three, is the correct answer!" ”
Will Spanish journalists believe it?
Of course, it doesn't matter whether they believe it or not, the key is Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello and all the players of Real Madrid, they are absolutely impossible to believe.
That's what he said last time, and then used Braniff as a 'bait' to attract most of the defence's attention, and then Simpson took a set-piece to break through the door for Real Madrid.
And this time?
"Who will Millwall's real cards be this time?"
When standing on the field, every Real Madrid player, including manager Fabio Capello, looked carefully at Millwall's starting lineup, believing that the hole card would definitely not be Simpson, because Simpson was not in the starting lineup at all.
Interestingly, Livermore didn't start either.
This was a relief for the Real Madrid players.
So who will it be?
Millwall lined up in a standard 442 formation, with Darren Bent and Jamie Vardy up front, Braniv in the middle of the midfield, Jody Morris in midfield, Mitchell and Pire on the wings, Arbeloa, Zambrotta, Darren Ward and Koncheski in the back four, and goalkeeper Graham Stark.
Real Madrid looked carefully at their opponents and tried to find the key players among them, but finally set their sights on the front line.
Darren Bent and Vardy.
Vardy doesn't want to say much, a young player who has performed well but has not reached the level of threatening Real Madrid, and Darren Bent must be careful.
Could it be that the real hole card is Darren Bent?
Several Real Madrid defenders thought that they had to defend Darren Bent carefully, preferably so that he could not even touch the ball.
It's safe that way!
————
"Beep————"
With a long whistle, the second leg of the Champions League between Millwall and Real Madrid officially began.
Real Madrid has enough confidence, even if it is an away game, it will attack Millwall in the first half, they attack very fiercely, and Millwall can only choose to retreat for a while.
At the end of two successive attacks, Real Madrid found that Millwall's defense was much tighter than the previous one.
Needless to say, the middle lane is self-explanatory.
Any team will focus on defending in the middle, Millwall's midfielder Livermore did not play, but the central midfield Morris's overall vision and organisational skills are much stronger, plus world-class central defenders Zambrotta and Darren Ward, it is very difficult for Real Madrid to break through the middle.
Millwall also defended tightly on the wings.
The right midfielder who started this game was Smitchell, and he and Pire, two veterans, are the kind of defensive wing-backs who don't neglect defending for the sake of attacking.
Smitchell is an all-round midfielder and has no shortage of defensive ability.
Pire's defensive ability is a bit worse, but his awareness is good, and during his time at Arsenal, Arsenal's all-attacking and defensive style of play has been etched in his mind, and he will even take on the role of full-back when the defense needs it.
Real Madrid paid particular attention to Millwall's full-backs.
In front of the top teams in Europe, Koncheski and Abeloa, the defensive ability can only be regarded as qualified, but the qualification is also remarkable, and they can still cause a lot of trouble for Real Madrid.
Many Real Madrid players also took note of Arbeloa.
Arbeloa works very hard and fights very hard, and he is probably the most scrappy player, because the opponent is Real Madrid, and he comes from the Real Madrid youth system.
For a club, the youth training seems to be two teams with the first team, but in fact, the youth players, especially to the level of the youth team and the reserve team, have more contact with the first team, even if they cannot be promoted to the first team, in many trainings, the coaching staff will also let the youth team be the first team's sparring partner, which can be used as an opponent for tactical drills.
Real Madrid's youth team is more closely linked to the first team because they are on the same training base and there are many times when they meet.
Players who have played for Real Madrid for more than two years are basically familiar with Arbeloa and know that he is a rare outstanding player in Real Madrid's youth academy, but it is a pity that it is difficult for Real Madrid youth players to be promoted to the first team, so such players can only leave and find other ways.
When encountering Arbeloa in the Champions League, many Real Madrid players are still quite emotional.
For example, Raul.
Raul and Arbeloa are not from the same era, but they both came from Real Madrid's youth system, so there is naturally a sense of intimacy, and the two are both geniuses but have different paths.
Raul said hello to Abeloa, and in the spare time of the game, he chatted, "How does it feel to be at Millwall?" ”
"Very nice! I loved it here. ”
'Can you play in the Champions League or start...... Congratulations! Raul sighed as he felt that Abeloa had grown up.
"Thank you! But I'm going to be serious. ”
"Of course, it's a game!"
“……”